PRAN AS VITAL FORCE

In yogic terminology Pran is not simply air but it is vital force. Vital force is
responsible for maintaining life and hence it is also known as live-force. All creatures
like men, animals, birds, fishes, insects, are alive because of this live-force. It is
believed that at the time of death live-force moves out of the body. As such life can
not exist in the absence of live-force. Vital force is responsible for maintaining life on
earth. Main characters of the life are to survive, to grow, and to reproduce.
Machines, which are having no life, may perform highly complicated functions but it
can not survive, grow, or reproduce
LIFE AND VITAL FORCE
The main characters of the live subjects, are growth, survival, and reproduction. All
these functions are due to the effect of the live-force. A dead body which has no
live-force, can not grow, survive, or reproduce. Under the effect of live-force, all the
body organs function regularly and systematically. Not only that but the
maintenance of perfect coordination between different organs of the body, is also
due to the live-force.
Human body is a very complex and a complicated machine having various organs
like heart, lungs, stomach, kidney, liver, brain etc. All the organs of the body, are
supposed to perform specific functions for specific purpose. For example heart
pumps the blood to different parts of the body for the purpose of providing nutrition
and oxygen, lungs purify the blood, stomach and intestines help in the process of
digestion and absorption of the food, and kidneys are responsible for removing
unwanted elements from the blood. Brain is responsible for receiving information
and sending instructions to various parts of the body. All these body organs operate
with the ultimate goal of survival and reproduction. All these organs have to
function in coordination with each other. This
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coordination is maintained by the live-force of the body. This live-force is commonly
known as the vital force.
ACTIONS OF VITAL FORCE ON THE MIND
Human mind is the supreme commander and manager in the body. Physical body
follows and carries out all the orders of the mind. Physical body can not act
independently without the guidance of the mind. Human mind is the decision maker
in all walks of life. Mind receives the information through various sense organs. After
receiving the information, mind analyses them. After analysis, mind decides the
mode of action, and finally it sends appropriate commands to the physical body for
action.
Human mind is having various faculties like memory, intelligence, will-power,
receptivity, and creativity. All these faculties are basically the parameters for
measuring the mental capacity of a person. These mental faculties are dependent
upon the degree of vital force of the mind. More specifically all these faculties are
directly in proportion with the degree of vital force of the mind. As such these

faculties are the parameters by which mental capacity can be accessed. Persons
with higher and stronger vital force will be having better mental capacity compared
to the person having weaker vital force. A dead person can not have memory,
intelligence, receptivity, or creativity, because it does not contain vital force.
VITAL FORCE AND BODY RESISTANCE
Human body is vulnerable to number of diseases. The whole atmosphere around us
is full of different kinds of deadly bacteria and viruses. These organisms are highly
equipped to attack human body. Being pathogenic these organisms are capable of
producing diseases. But all of them can not produce diseases in all man because of
the inbuilt immune mechanism of the body. Human body is having a natural
resistance power which does not allow these organisms to
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produce any disease in the body. When the degree of resistance deteriorates due to
some reason, the bacteria can attack the body and can produce disease.
The power of this natural resistance is proportionate to the amount of vital force in
the body. In the dead body there is no vital force, with the effect the dead body is
devoid of natural resistance. A dead body can not fight against the attack of various
bacteria. So decomposition process starts in the body immediately after death. The
basic philosophy of the Homeopathic System of medicine is based on this theory of
vital force. In short our life is sustained due to the existence of vital force.
LEVEL OF VITAL FORCE
The level of vital force is not same in each person. Not only that but it varies in the
same person from time to time. It is the common observation that some people are
full of energy and vitality. Such persons are very active. Such persons are creative
and ambitious. These persons are full of vital force. On the other hand the persons
who are having weak vital force are lazy by nature. They are not creative. They
prefer to rest and relax rather than to work. Most of the time, persons having strong
vital force, are successful in life.
In the same way the level of vital force varies in the same person at different
periods of time. Children are very active. They can not remain without any activity
for even a moment. If there is no activity they would like to play. This is because the
level of vital force in the children is very high. As the age advances, the level of vital
force goes down. At the time of old age the vital force is at the minimum level. Most
of the old people are inactive by nature. They prefer to rest rather than to work.
They would not like to start any new venture at this age. In short they just survive
and pass their time. Most of the old age diseases are degenerative in nature. Vital
organs do not function at their full potential in old age. All these changes are due to
reduced level of vital force in old age.
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VITAL FORCE AS ENERGY

Vital force is one type of energy. It can be called as vital energy. On earth there are
number of energies like electrical energy, mechanical energy, heat energy, atomic
energy. As such whatever exists on earth, are either in the form of matter or in the
form of energy. Even the so called matter is ultimately, nothing but energy.
Physicists have recognized number of energies and discovered rules governing
those energies. But science has remained silent as far as vital energy is concern.
This is the energy which is responsible for life on earth. The basic characters of life
are growth, survival, and reproduction. These characters are seen in all the lives on
earth. A very complicated and complex instrument like the computer can perform
multiple tasks which any normal human being can not perform. But yet the
computer can not have those characters of life i.e. growth, survival and
reproduction. No computer can grow by itself or can reproduce baby computers. On
the other hand the smallest organism like the amoeba can grow, survive and can
reproduce a baby amoeba. All species of earth have existed for millions of years
because of this ability to reproduce. As far as life is concerned the smallest creature
like amoeba is far more superior to any highly complicated machine produced by
the man.
Again it is observed, that the organisms having low vital force, are having limited
functions and activities. While the organisms having high vital force are having
better abilities, and so they can perform multiple functions. Unicellular organisms
like amoeba have very limited functions of growth, survival, and reproduction. While
organisms like insects can perform more functions as compared to amoeba. This is
because they possess stronger vital force as compared to amoeba. Man is gifted
with the highest amount of vital force and hence he can perform multiple tasks as
compared to other
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animals. The superiority of man over other animals is due to the higher level of vital
force that he possessed
PATHWAYS OF VITAL FORCE
Being the energy it cannot be seen by the naked eye, and nor can it be measured
by any instrument. Only its manifestations are felt. As per the yogic philosophy the
vital force is stored in the body at specific reservoirs. These reservoirs are called as
chakras in yogic terms. The first and basic Chakra is called
Muladhar. It is situated at the lower end of the vertebral column. The last charka of
the vital force is situated in the brain; the name of this chakra is Sahastrar. These
two chakras are joined by central path which is known as Sushumna. There are two
more paths running parallel to Sushumna, the path running on the left side of
Sushumna is known as Pingala, and the path on the right of Sushumna is known as
Ida. These are the main central paths of vital force. There are six more chakras of
vital force. These chakras are situated in the various parts of the body. They are like
relay stations of energy. Apart from these main pathways, there are number of
smaller pathways which carry vital force to the different and distal parts of the body.
It is assumed that there are more than 40,000 such pathways in the body. In yogic

terms, these pathways are known as yogic Nadis. It is presumed that vital force
flows through these pathways to different parts of the body and to various organs.
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EFFECTS OF BLOCKED PATHWAYS
In normal circumstances, the vital force supplied to each organ and body part, is
adequate. With the result all the organs of the body can function normally. But it
may happen that some of the pathways may get blocked. With the result some
organs may not get adequate amount of vital energy. Lack of vital energy will result
into mal-functioning of the organ. Such organs may function with reduced efficiency
or may start mal- functioning. This situation may create disturbance in the over all
coordination among various organs resulting into disease. As per the yogic belief
the prime cause of the disease is disturbance in the normal flow of vital energy.
With the advancement of the age more and more pathways of the vital force are
blocked. With the result more and more organs of the body, starts losing its
efficiency. So in the old age, people are weak and more vulnerable to various
diseases.
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PRANAYAM AND VITAL ENERGY
Pranayam is the process of cleaning and reopening these vital energy pathways. In
the yogic terms, such cleaning is called as Nadi Shudhi. Nadi means energy
pathways and shudhi means the process of cleaning. The main function of
Pranayam is Nadi-Shudhi. Nadi-Shudhi will lead to adequate supply of vital energy
to all the parts and organs of the body. With the result all the parts and organs will
function with better efficiency. Not only that, but there will be better coordination
between the various organs. Such situation will create a healthier body and an
efficient mind.
EFFECT OF PRANAYAM ON MIND
Human body is the combination of body and mind. The physical body can not
function without the mind and the mind can not function without the body. The mind
is decision maker for all the functions of body. It is the mind which takes the
decision to act. Body performs all the actions as per the decision of the mind. For
the better performance one should have a strong body and a strong mind. Not only
that, but there should be a proper coordination between the two.
Yogic nadis connect mind with the body. As such they work as the bridge between
the mind and the body. All the commands of the mind are conveyed to the physical
body through these energy pathways. If these pathways are blocked or damaged,
the coordination between the body and the mind will be disturbed. In such
circumstances, all the commands of the mind may not reach to the body organs, or
being not pure and clear, those orders may be misunderstood or misinterpreted by
the body organs. Once the equilibrium between the mind and the body is disturbed,
the body will not be in position to cope with the demand of the mind. In such a
situation the person may feel that all his ideas and thoughts cant be put in practice

because his body can not fulfill the demand of the mind. For better efficiency and
capabilities one should have a
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healthy mind, a healthy body, and an efficient coordination between the two. This
can be achieved by the regular practice of Pranayam.